1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to workstation authentication, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for conducting a non-authentication task using a workstation authentication system.
2. Related Art
In today's computer network environment, upgrades of applications resident on a network can be very time consuming and labor intensive. The reason for this is that network environments often use operating systems such as Microsoft Windows NT® or UNIX that require manual attention to each workstation, i.e., clients, to complete upgrades. To lessen the burden of these upgrades, centralized upgrade systems for upgrading numerous workstations have been developed. Unfortunately, each workstation, in many instances, still requires manual attention to complete the upgrade. One reason for this is that the authentication system of many network environment operating systems, e.g., Microsoft Windows NT®, usually require a reboot or, at the very least, a login/logoff of each workstation before the additional functionality of the upgrade is available.
In addition, upgrade problems arise because of the inability of current systems to conduct an upgrade, or communicate with a workstation during an upgrade, if a user is not signed on to the workstation.
A part of every network environment operating system is an authentication system. Mechanisms have been developed to provide for a single logon to be authenticated in many different pieces of software, relieving the user from having to sign-on multiple times to different systems/software. For example, Microsoft Windows NT® allows a replacement of its authentication system's graphical identification and authentication (GINA) module to modify the default behavior of the NT authentication services. U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,724 to Nevarez et al. entitled “Method and System for Integrating Additional Functionality Into a Login System,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses an event driven method for adding functionality to an authentication system is described. However, these mechanisms do not address the need in the art to modify an authentication system such that non-authentication related tasks, such as those necessary to complete an upgrade, can be provided. Furthermore, these systems do not allow modification of the authentication system at runtime.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for an apparatus for conducting non-authentication tasks using a workstation authentication system. In particular, there is a need for an apparatus that can conduct non-authentication tasks related to upgrades. It would be advantageous if such an apparatus had the ability to modify the authentication system at runtime without requiring a reboot, e.g., add new function to the user authentication step without interrupting other workstation activity. Furthermore, the ability to initiate a userless workstation logon and allow operation of non-authentication tasks tailored to different upgrades or installations without overburdening memory would be helpful. A userless workstation logon would also remove the need for manual attention to complete an upgrade. An apparatus that could then log off and/or reboot the workstation would also be beneficial. The ability to display a message while no user is signed on, or after a user signs off/reboots, is also helpful to warn users not to use the workstation when it would interfere with an upgrade. Even further, the ability to receive a response to the above messages, e.g., provide a response to the next user who sees the message after an event occurs, would be advantageous. Finally, it would be advantageous if a remote program or system could request that the above-described functions be carried out.